ⓘ Featured image: Beardo founders: Priyank Shah (L) and Ashutosh Valani (R); Credits: The Hindu BusinessLine
Marico, Indian FMCG behemoth today announced that it has acquired Beardo, a men’s grooming brand. The acquisition witnessed the exit of VCats, an Indian leading integrated incubator and accelerator platform.
This was the second tranch of Beardo’s parent company Zed Lifestyle’s acquisition by Marico – acquiring 55 percent stake in the company. Back in May 2017, Marico acquired a 45 percent stake in Zed Lifestyle by investing INR 50 crore in the company.
Beardo also amassed Bollywood actor Suniel Shetty as an investor and now has on-boarded Hrithik Roshan as its brand ambassador.
Founded in 2015 by Ashutosh Valani and Priyank Shah, Beardo is an Ahmedabad, Gujarat-based manufacturer of natural ordinary oils or incompatible products for men such as beard wax, hair care products and more.
In 2016, Venture Catalysts along with other investors invested a total of $500K in Beardo. Venture Catalysts in a press statement has revealed that they have spruced 5x to 8x returns from their investments in Beardo.
Apoorva Ranjan Sharma, Founder of Venture Catalysts in a statement said,
“We are extremely proud of Ashutosh Valani and Priyank Shah on their successful entrepreneurial journey from a small town to becoming a leader in the men’s grooming category. We were one of the first to have believed in Beardo’s true potential and the idea. Men’s grooming market has grown from a mere Rs 3,200 crore in 2016 to a whopping Rs 10,000 crore today, and this speaks volumes about VCats’s ability to spot potential startups. With Marico’s acquisition of Beardo, VCats has taken a complete exit at stellar valuations,”
Ashutosh Valani, now the former CEO of Beardo in a statement talked about his exit as,
“We are fortunate to have got Venture Catalysts as our investor and mentor. At a time when most of the Indian VCs and angel investors were chasing tech startups from Mumbai, Delhi, and Bengaluru, VCats believed in and reposed its faith in a startup from a small city like Ahmedabad. VCats has been a tremendous support in our journey from a startup to becoming a national brand. We thank the entire team for being so co-operative in providing mentorship, quick evaluation, and super quick decisions.”
Marico in a regulatory filing added,
“The investment makes the investee company (Zed Lifestyle) a wholly-owned subsidiary of Marico Ltd and gives Marico a complete control over the operations of the investee company,”
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